#36 - IPC 2021 Puzzle Collection
This year has been great for me in terms of setting. I've reflected a bit in my previous post, but something I didn't touch on there was the fact that I've also been writing for various sources, including WCPN, Topple and a few more upcoming projects. One of my favorite experiences was writing for IPC 2021. Being invited to write for this championship felt like a huge validation of my work and greatly motivates me to continue writing more puzzles. This post showcases the puzzles I wrote for the tournament, in order of appearance through the rounds.
While this post only showcases my puzzles, each and every one of the puzzles in the IPC was of exceptional quality, and if you haven't yet, I strongly recommend checking out the other puzzles as well. The championship was filled to the brim with quality puzzles by some of the greatest puzzle constructors out there. Whether you're novice or experienced, speedsolving or solving casually, there's bound to be something for you in it.
Rules are included in the Penpa links, otherwise please refer to Puzzle Rules.
#1 - Nanro Signpost - Round 1 - 65/550 points - Solve on Penpa
I was fairly late with my genre selection, but Nanro was still available. This is a genre I'm well familiar with and have always thought deserves more recognition, so the choice was easily made. I wanted to do exactly one puzzle with an IPC theme, and this seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
#2 - Rassi Silai - Round 2 - 35/650 points - Solve on Penpa
Rassi Silai was an easy pick for me - I've gotten some great feedback on ones I've made in the past, so I figured I'd do one for IPC as well, since it's a genre originating from India. The turns element was a new mechanic for me to work with which allowed me to make a seemingly very open grid resolve uniquely quite easily, and I think the puzzle came out really interesting. (I'm aware it says IPC 2020 in the penpa link - small typo on my part)
I wasn't entirely confident in my ability to set an araf of high enough quality, and this one took by far the longest to set. Having only set one before and not having solved a great deal of them either, I felt like my inexperience might come back to bite me. However, in the end I got a working puzzle with a theme and solve path I was happy with, and I'm glad I opted for it in the end.
I doubted for a very long time whether I wanted to do a hotaru beam or opt for something else. I've made a fair amount in the past and thus was well confident in my ability to set one - I was hesitant because this was already a round with less common genres, and hotaru beam is one with intrinsic properties that may not be immediately discoverable in a contest environment. However, my argument for going with it regardless is that to be a rightful puzzle champion, you need to be capable at a large variety of puzzles, and hotaru beam is as much a puzzle as any other genre. I did start over once altogether - the puzzle I initially wrote (since published on Twitter / puzz.link) felt too difficult as a result of being highly focused on loop closure arguments. The eventual contest puzzle was a bit frustrating as I couldn't find a good orientation of thematic clues to round off the right side, however overall I'm content with it - writing a restrictively themed, secure hotaru beam on a 10x10 grid is not the easiest task.
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